13 November, 2018
In order to make the work of the Judicial Qualification Committee more effective, the Council for the Judiciary made a number of amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Judicial Qualification Committee. The purpose of the amendments is to improve the process of assessing the professional performance of judges.
If, until now, the judge's professional performance was assessed only as positive or negative, then henceforth, the Committee, in the event of positive assessment of judge’s performance, will be able to make recommendations to improve the professional performance of a judge.
The demands for review-giving by judges of the Supreme Court and the information provided by the Court Administration on a judge have been clarified. It has been determined that the review is prepared of a judge's professional performance for a period of 5 years – and the reviewer analyses more than ten decisions adopted by the court of the highest instance. The review includes information on the number of substantiated complaints filed about the judge's performance, on disciplinary sanctions applied to the judge and complaints about the judge to the Judicial Ethics Commission, as well as on judgments adopted by the judge, which have been reviewed by the Supreme Court and cancelled on the basis of the protest. In the commentary of the Chief Justice of the Court on the work of a judge, it is necessary to indicate the information about the complaints, which the Chief Justice has declared to be justified, but on which it is concluded that the violation committed by the judge does not give rise to disciplinary proceedings.
The amendments also specify the procedure for the extraordinary assessment of the judge's professional performance.
Part of the amendments is of a technical nature – it is foreseen to make an audio record of the sitting of the Committee, the mandate of a chair and vice chair of the Committee to represent the panel in other institutions and provide answers to applications filed by individuals.
The decision was adopted by the Council for the Judiciary on the sitting of November 12, 2018.
Information prepared by
Rasma Zvejniece, the Head of the Division of Communication of the Supreme Court
E-mail: rasma.zvejniece@at.gov.lv, telephone: +371 67020396, +371 2865221